Devika Utaku

Aran gave me a job to hunt two Kitsu shugenja who had deserted on behalf of the Lion. I traveled to Tetsuyama to meet with Akodo Junichi, the magsitrate I would be working with. He seems earnest enough, and more importantly, he seems to know to stay out of may way. Too often bureaucrats try to interfere with my work and only make my job that much harder. Akodo-san informed me that my quarry was a woman by the name of Kitsu Furuko and a former general - Kitsu Yoshitsune. I will never forget that name, the man who revealed my disgraceful performance as a leader myself when he overpowered me and took me prisoner. As a general, I respect him and if I'm completely honest, I lamented that I had to set myself as his enemy, again. But he was the criminal I was to hunt, and I can only feel relief that this time, it was I who prevailed.   The Kitsu deserters had holed up in a crypt near a peasant village about a day away, and so I decided to give my Kokoro a rest before heading out. I was hosted by a Unicorn who lives there, Shinjo Sakura. It's still strange to see a city where both clans live in peace. Her home was welcoming enough but my night there was troubled with a dream of my quarry. I set out early lest I lose the element of surprise. The day-long trip to the peasant village where my quarry was uneventful, and upon arrival I found that the peasantry of the village knew nothing about the traitors hiding so near by. They directed me to speak with a monk who cared for the shrine and cemetery. When he realized the truth of the matter, he informed me that he was providing fish to two samurai in the crypt. At my behest, he ceased bringing them food, and then it was only a matter of waiting.   It was Yoshitsune who emerged first from hiding. He was surprisingly docile, not the fiery warrior I had expected. Perhaps he thought he could persuade me to let him go, but that was never an option. When I inquired about his ability to speak to the Kami, which had not been documented, he attacked. I cut him down before a single word could leave his throat. I think, in his dying breaths, he recognized me. I thought this would bring me redemption, or at least restore some of the honor that I'd lost, but there was no accomplishment to be had in cutting a broken man. In the end, there was no satisfaction to be had, and all I feel is confused. Perhaps Hinata-san will understand why I feel the way I do. I certainly don't.   Furuko was a husk of a woman. She spent everything chasing a man she loved and supporting his bad choices, and in the end all she had to show for it was misery. She accepted her death without any fight. I can't decide if her complacency is to be pitied or if all she deserves is my disgust. She spoke as if she had no hope, nothing left to live for now that this man had died. I truly don't understand how she could face the end with no will to survive. In the end, the only kindness I could offer her was a full belly and a quick death.   Akodo-san was pleased with my work, and my concerns that their deaths would be used to start a war between our clans, again, seem largely unfounded, at least from what he could tell me. He said he'd like to work with me, in the future, and I certainly wouldn't remind such an arrangement. He implied that there was a certain amount of unrest amongst the Lion, and that there was a faction of people that aim to rekindle the war between our people, though Lion leadership wants to focus on the threat from the Burning Sands. I go now to report back to Aran and hopefully get a new mission so I can get back out on the road.